Seat-of-the-Pants Driving

Special Advertising Feature

July 12, 2012|Jim MacPherson, On The Road

It's called kinesthetic sense, the ability of a driver to "feel" what the car is actually doing at any given moment. A skilled and experienced driver uses this feedback to intuitively compare what he wants the car to do versus what the car is actually doing.

Now, Cadillac is expanding this seat-of-the-pants driving with its optional Safety Alert Seat, which is available in the new Cadillac XTS. It uses two small motors that pulse the seat to warn the driver of a problem.

"It's akin to someone tapping on your shoulder in a crowd to get your attention," says General Motors Active Safety Technical Fellow Raymond Kiefer in a press release. "Using the tactile sense to communicate crash threat direction provides an effective and intuitive way to cut through the clutter of visual and auditory sensory information that drivers routinely experience."

Jeanne Merchant, the line director for the car, noted at its New York City introduction that the seat is part of either the Driver Awareness Package, which is available on cars now being shipped to dealers, or the Driver Assist Package, which debuts this fall. The Driver Awareness Package includes forward collision alert, lane departure warning, side blind zone alert and rear cross traffic alert. The Driver Assist Package features adaptive cruise control, automatic collision preparation, and front and rear automatic braking systems.

Unlike other cars that warn the driver with a beep (which also alerts passengers - very embarrassing), the Safety Alert Seat uses either one of the motors or the two in tandem to "pulse" the seat. "Pulse" is the term a Cadillac executive used, although it actually feels more like a vibration. It's instantly noticeable and mercifully silent.

The warning also includes a directional component. If the driver is drifting to the right without signaling, the right side of the seat vibrates. If the drift is to the left, the left motor vibrates. If the problem is ahead or, when backing, behind, then both motors vibrate.

According to Kiefer, the seat can direct driver attention to the location of a crash threat more quickly and accurately than beeping alerts. Drivers who dislike the feature can turn it off, Merchant says.

This Safety Alert Seat is not the only tactile communication feature in the new Cadillac XTS. The CUE system (short for Cadillac User Experience), which is accessed using a touch-sensitive screen that handles infotainment functions, uses haptic feedback. Don't worry if you've never heard of haptic feedback. Most of the writers, including this one, at the presentation hadn't heard of it either.

In the CUE system, haptic feedback delivers a satisfying and unmistakable "click" feeling to the touch sensitive screen whenever you successfully use a control function. It is akin to the feeling you'd get using a mechanical pushbutton, and it serves as confirmation that the control has actually been activated without taking your eyes off the road.

Sophisticated controls and driver interfaces may not be what every Cadillac buyer wants, of course. Merchant notes that the systems can be kept simple or set up to allow the driver a wider range of control functions.

For those who think that "traditional" Cadillac buyers are probably not adept at handling such state-of-the-art systems, it should be noted that members of Cadillac's "traditional" clientele handily manage banking and stock trades by computer and use smartphones and tablets with ease. As if to confirm this, each XTS actually comes with an iPad that contains the owner's manual, among other vehicle-related additions. Older customers should love it while younger luxury car buyers may be prompted by the technology to give Cadillac the second look its new model lineup deserves.

Jim MacPherson is the host of "The Car Doctor" show airing Sundays at noon on WTIC-AM. Paula MacPherson is his wife and new-car review partner. Send comments, questions, suggestions in care of Special Publications, Hartford Courant, 285 Broad St., Hartford, CT 06115, or email jdee@courant.com.

This content was prepared by the Marketing Department of The Hartford Courant without involvement of the News Department